Loss and loneliness among international students

While scant research has focused on the predictors and causes of loss and loneliness among international tertiary students, it is clear that this group suffers significantly from the deleterious effects of these experiences during intercultural exchanges. Neither has the prevalence of loneliness and international students featured significantly from a socio-psychological, ethnographic point of view. In this article that makes a useful contribution to Cross-Cultural Adaptation (CCA) literature, I address the causes and the effects of loss and loneliness during the cyclical transitional processes of adjustment and re-adjustment. Evidence predicated on findings from ethnographic research on French students in Australia over the last decade is presented and elaborated by extant literature in this area investigating other cultures in transition. Suggestions will be made as to how those students can cope with the loss and loneliness they experience during intercultural exchanges.